15 shows that define prestige TV

11. Lost

It took five years, but the prestige TV era finally produced its first flagship genre offering. J.J. Abrams’ Lost premiered in 2004 on ABC and almost immediately became a cultural phenomenon, its many mysteries capturing the imaginations of a generation of TV watchers down for some dense mythology.

There weren’t really any shows like Lost up until this point. Networks weren’t yet aware that there was an audience for intense sci-fi, let alone something as timey-wimey as Lost eventually became. Between the smoke monsters, polar bears, flash-forwards and more, Abrams proved there was a market for heavy storytelling that didn’t involve Italian mobsters or Baltimore drug dealers.

Lost somehow found time between its genre trappings to feature a memorable shipping contest in the form of a love triangle between Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway). It wasn’t the first case of Golden-Era shipping and certainly wasn’t the last, but it was probably the most divisive at that moment in prestige TV history.

Unsurprisingly, Lost is also responsible for a number of copycats trying to recapture its magic, mostly poorly. Shows like Flashforward and Terra Nova crashed and burned under the weight of their own gimmicks.

The most successful member of the Lost family tree might actually be Once Upon a Time, which was created by Lost alums and produced a mythology dense enough to rival any actual prestige TV show.

Lost is probably the reason TV executives became willing to take big swings with fantasty/sci-fi projects like Game of Thrones and Westworld. It may have pioneered some now-cliched storytelling techniques, but it can’t be overstated enough just how revolutionary its refusal to adhere to the rules of linearity was for its time.